Photoinitiated F2+H2/D2 chain-reaction laser with high electrical efficiency

Abstract
Performance characteristics are reported for a pulsed HF/DF laser initiated by photodissociation of F2. Laser energy of 292 J is obtained from a 12.8‐l active volume for 2.5% HF content at 1‐atm total pressure, giving 8.1% chemical efficiency at 29% electrical efficiency. Thirty‐three percent electrical efficiency is obtained with and 109‐J laser energy. DF lasing produces 144 J with 14% electrical efficiency. Far‐field measurements show a uniform beam profile with angular half‐angle divergence of 5.5 mrad, in good agreement with the value expected for multimode operation of the large‐Fresnel‐number stable resonator used.

This publication has 11 references indexed in Scilit: